Usopp makes his debut in the One Piece live-action series, but does the great Captain Usopp live up to his animated counterpart? The good news for fans is that the Syrup Village arc is off to a great start as the Straw Hat Pirates come looking for a ship. One Piece’s live-action adventure continues with this review of Episode 3: “Tell No Tales”.
What Happens in Tell No Tales?
The great Captain Usopp gets an introduction finely as he runs screaming through the streets of Syrup Village. He claims that pirates are coming, for everyone to run, and that they’re going to be murdered! It would be terrifying if the kid didn’t do this every morning for the past ten years. Despite his notoriety in the village for his lies, Usopp is friends with Kaya, whose family owned the shipyards of Syrup Village. He tells her all kinds of tall tales about his adventures, and Kaya enjoys them since she can’t leave her home due to a mysterious illness.
Kaya is attended by Klahadore and her other butlers, who try to keep her medicated and stable. Except the tea and soup they feed her has a strange blue color to it that just doesn’t seem normal. When Luffy and the crew show up looking for a ship, Usopp offers to introduce them to Kaya. Now, with their eye on a ship floating in the docks, a ram’s head adorning the bow, the Straw Hats head off to Kaya’s home.
Who is Usopp?
The great Captain Usopp is the most fearsome pirate in the East Blue, a warrior braver than any to come before. So he says, at least. In reality, Usopp is a cowardly liar, more prone to running for his life than he is to stand and fight. Still, he cares for his friends and does what he can to help Kaya, even sneaking in against Klahadore’s wishes to speak with her. Though Klahadore tries to get rid of Usopp and the crew, Kaya persuades him to let them stay for her birthday dinner that night.
It was nice to get some insight through this episode into the past of Usopp. The reveal that Yasopp is his father was more nonchalant in the original manga, but here it takes on the melancholy edge it should have in the real world. Yasopp left Usopp and his mother before Usopp could even form a memory of him, and hasn’t seen him since. That’s honestly a lot worse when Luffy mentions all the great advice Yasopp gave him as a kid. Meanwhile Usopp was watching his mother die a few islands away. Dad of the year, Yasopp was not.
Garp
Koby and Helmeppo are still getting used to their time in the Marines (or new time for Helmeppo). Still, Koby’s abilities and past have piqued Garp’s interest, and the Vice-Admiral takes the young cadet under his wing. Koby isn’t too sure of what to think, of course, but quickly learns from Garp to think on his feet without hesitation through playing a strategic game. It’s nice to see Garp get a little change from his more hardass presentation in the past couple of episodes. A nice detail was how he admitted to getting his ass kicked by Koby at the game, which Garp doesn’t admit to most people.
His decision to send Koby in after Luffy at Syrup Village was the inciting incident to get their paths to cross again. It helps that the live-action shows the story of Koby and Helmeppo, during major events of the first saga. In the original source most of their involvement was through single-panel cover stories. Instead letting audiences see their growth on screen is definitely a great treat.
Who is Arlong?
A major antagonist that was briefly hinted at before, Arlong is the Fishman leader of the Arlong Pirates. Fishmen are a race in the world of One Piece that are just what they sound like. They’re often hybrids of different fish species as humans with massive strength to match. They can breathe underwater, speak, walk, and talk on land, and fight with the strength of ten humans. Kuroobi is the first to debut, as the Manta Ray Fishman brings Buggy a message from Arlong. The captain Fishman later shows up in person to question the Genius Jester.
Arlong is a Sawtooth Shark Fishman, and one of the most fearsome in all the world. He calls himself the boss of the East Blue here, and he gets away with a surprising amount. He’s a vicious enemy and now he has his sights set on Straw Hat Luffy. Even worse, he has a seeming spy on board their crew in Nami.
Kuro of the Thousand Plans
The creepy butler is actually a vicious pirate trying to steal Kaya’s inheritance and business. How shocking, but it’s definitely a surprise that Merry was a victim of Kuro’s initial reveal. In the manga, he actually lives, but didn’t get so lucky here. The ensuing fight between Zoro and Kuro is a great show of the power the Straw Hats are going to face, even from those without Devil Fruit powers. It also pulls off the anime speed blur pretty well. Although it does kind of look like the vampires running in Twilight sometimes.
Kuro’s plan is vile, and he’s been poisoning Kaya for years through her “sickness” despite saying he cares for her. Then when he knocks Zoro out, with Buchi and Sham dumping him in the well not long after. Thankfully the two Black Cat Pirates are idiots, and toss his swords in after him. Now Luffy is out thanks to draining the pot of poison soup, Kaya and Nami are on lockdown, and nobody believes Usopp.
Is Syrup Village a Two Episode Arc?
The Straw Hat Pirates face a nightmare situation as Kuro locks the building down after Koby visits. The villainous Black Cat Pirate gives the Marines Luffy before closing the entire mansion. Now they leave the Straw Hats to survive the night and get out alive when the episode ends.
One Piece live-action is still holding onto the hype from the first two episodes. The Syrup Village arc was really one of the more boring in the East Blue saga. With room to improve, leaning into a horror-slasher vibe to keep it fresh was a fantastic idea. With Tell No Tales, One Piece continues to break the live-action anime trend like none that have before. Hopefully, the trend continues into the next episode, where the Straw Hats have to escape the villainous Kuro like a horror villain!
One Piece Live Action serial is available to stream on Netflix in the United States.
